Capital Digest

It was the hottest ticket in town, a black-tie dinner for Washington's political and media elite, but Dick Cheney couldn't make it.

The former vice president was busy, President Barack Obama joked, working on his memoir "tentatively titled, 'How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.' "

As the star attraction of Saturday night's star-studded annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Obama enjoyed poking fun at his critics and the Republican Party. But his own administration, in power for just over 100 days, was also a target of the president's playful digs and one-liners.

"I believe my next hundred days will be so successful that I will be able to complete them in 72 days," he said to a roar of laughter. "And on my 73rd day, I will rest."

Cheney sides with Limbaugh

Dick Cheney made clear Sunday he'd rather follow firebrand broadcaster Rush Limbaugh than former Joint Chiefs chairman Colin Powell into political battle over the future of the Republican Party.

Even as Cheney embraced efforts to expand the party by ex-Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and the House's No. 2 Republican, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the former vice president appeared to write his one-time colleague Powell out of the GOP.

Asked about recent words between Limbaugh and Powell, Cheney said, "If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."

Powell, who was secretary of state under President George W. Bush, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president last year. Nonetheless, since the election he has described himself as a Republican and a right-of-center conservative, though "not as right as others would like."

Biden: 'Shape history'

Vice President Joe Biden told more than 3,000 college graduates that they are at a watershed moment with a chance to shape history that few generations ever encounter.

He urged in a commencement address Sunday to imagine a better world, and then get involved and help make improvements.

"There is a much greater risk in accepting a situation we know we cannot sustain than in steeling our spine and embracing the challenge of change," Biden said to students from Syracuse University and the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

"It is totally within your power to shape history. ... This has been the journey of America since its inception," said Biden, a 1968 graduate of Syracuse's law school, speaking to more than 19,000 people.

Schumer vs. phone spam

Americans are receiving increasingly frequent robo-calls saying, "This is the final notice. The factory warranty on your vehicle is about to expire," or something similar.

Now, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York wants a federal investigation into the "robo-dialer harassment," even as officials in 40 states are investigating the companies behind the car-warranty calls.

"Not only are these calls a nuisance, but they tie up land lines and can eat up a user's cell phone minutes, possibly leading to a higher cell phone bill due to overage charges," said Schumer, D-N.Y.

Michelle Corey, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau in St. Louis, Mo., said the industry is based largely in the St. Louis area and generates thousands of complaints a year.